The members have also taken to discussing the issue on social media.
A parishioner, who is also a member of Queer Azaadi Mumbai (QAM) and among those who heard the sermon last week, said the priest brought up the issue in light of gay marriage being legalized in England recently and went on to condemn homosexuality and gay marriage.
“He referred to homosexuality as a ‘great sin’ and launched an attack on gay marriage. I heard from my friends that such sermons were also given in a Dahisar church recently,” said the parishioner, requesting anonymity.
“QAM members have decided to write to the Archbishop about the issue. We are drafting the letter and will send it over the weekend,” he added.
LGBT activist Harish Iyer, who recently figured among the 100 most influential LGBT people in the world, put up a post on social networking site Facebook where he discussed the sermon.
The sermon took place just a day before the pope said that homosexual people should not be judged or discriminated against.
Pope Francis had said to the international media: “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Father Nigel Barett, spokesperson of the Bombay archdiocese, said that issues related to morality are often discussed in churches and priests always represent the stand of the church.
“I will verify if the statement was made at the church, and if need be, we will ask the priests to deal with the issue in a more sensitive manner. But whatever the priest may have said is the stand of the Catholic Church which is that homosexuality is against natural law,” he said.
“Pope Francis had said that we should not be judgmental of homosexuals. But he never said homosexuality was not a sin,” he added.
Father Denzil Correia, assistant priest at St. Thomas Church, also took a similar stand.
“Our priests always talk about the teachings of the Church. We have not received any complaint about any of our sermons,” he said.
The priest who delivered the sermon was not available for comment.